Learning Japanese, a language spoken by over 128 million people worldwide, can open doors to a rich culture, exciting career opportunities, and a deeper understanding of East Asian perspectives. However, the journey to Japanese fluency is often perceived as daunting. Many resources claim quick and easy paths to language mastery, but the reality is that true proficiency requires dedication and a strategic approach. This comprehensive guide, designed for English speakers, will provide you with a robust, step-by-step method on How To Learn Japanese Language effectively, ensuring you build a solid foundation and progress towards fluency.
This isn’t a shortcut; it’s the correct way. We believe in laying the groundwork meticulously from the beginning. While some steps might seem unconventional or even slower compared to other methods, each element is carefully chosen to maximize your efficiency and accelerate your learning in the long run. We’ll cover everything from reading and writing systems to speaking and listening comprehension, providing clear guidance on what resources to use, when to use them, and most importantly, why they are crucial for your progress.
Forget spending your initial enthusiasm on endless planning. Let’s dive straight into actionable steps and transform your aspiration into achievement.
Our primary goal is to guide you towards Japanese fluency as efficiently as possible. Unlike traditional classroom settings or rigid textbook structures, we have the flexibility to focus solely on the most effective path. There are no arbitrary tests or the pressure to keep pace with others. Your only task is to follow these steps, dedicate your effort, and witness your consistent progress. Be prepared for a journey that might challenge conventional wisdom, but trust that each step is strategically designed to bring you closer to your goal faster and more effectively.
Note: This guide is continuously updated to reflect the best learning practices and resources. We encourage you to revisit it periodically, subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on social media for updates. Even if you have some prior experience with Japanese, we recommend reviewing this guide – you might discover valuable insights to enhance your learning journey.
Section 1: Laying the Foundation – Zero Knowledge? No Problem!
Welcome to the exciting world of Japanese language learning! This section is specifically designed for absolute beginners. If your Japanese vocabulary currently consists of just “konnichiwa” and “baka,” you’re in the right place. The initial steps you take are paramount, as they will form the bedrock upon which your future fluency will be built. A deliberate and thorough approach at this stage will pave the way for smoother progress and prevent common pitfalls that many learners encounter later on.
Investing time in these foundational elements is crucial if you aim to avoid the infamous “intermediate wall” – a plateau where progress seems to stagnate. Taking a meticulous approach now, even if it feels slow, will ultimately accelerate your learning in the long run.
1.1. Why Learn Japanese?
Before diving into the mechanics of how to learn japanese language, let’s briefly touch upon the “why.” Understanding your motivations can fuel your dedication throughout your learning journey. Japanese offers a plethora of benefits, including:
- Cultural Immersion: Unlock a deeper appreciation for Japan’s rich history, traditions, art, and unique societal structures.
- Career Advancement: In an increasingly globalized world, Japanese proficiency is a valuable asset in various industries, particularly technology, business, and translation.
- Cognitive Benefits: Learning a new language, especially one as linguistically distinct as Japanese, enhances cognitive functions like memory, problem-solving, and multitasking.
- Personal Enrichment: Enjoy Japanese media in its original form – anime, manga, movies, music, literature – and connect with Japanese speakers around the world.
- Travel and Living: Navigate Japan with ease, experience authentic interactions, and potentially pursue living or working opportunities in Japan.
Identifying your personal reasons for learning Japanese will serve as a powerful motivator when faced with challenges, ensuring you stay committed to your goal of fluency.
1.2. Understanding the Japanese Writing System: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji
One of the first hurdles for many aspiring Japanese learners is the writing system. Unlike English, Japanese uses three distinct scripts:
- Hiragana (ひらがな): A phonetic alphabet used for native Japanese words and grammatical particles. It’s the foundational script and the first one you should learn.
- Katakana (カタカナ): Another phonetic alphabet, primarily used for foreign loanwords, onomatopoeia, and emphasis.
- Kanji (漢字): Logographic characters borrowed from Chinese. Each kanji represents a word or concept and often has multiple readings. Mastering kanji is essential for advanced literacy in Japanese.
While the prospect of learning three writing systems might seem overwhelming, it’s a step-by-step process. We’ll start with hiragana, the gateway to reading and writing Japanese.
1.3. Mastering Hiragana: The First Step
Estimated Time: 1 day to 1 week
Hiragana is the cornerstone of Japanese literacy. It’s Japan’s phonetic alphabet, and proficiency in hiragana is a prerequisite for most beginner Japanese learning materials. Traditional classrooms often dedicate an entire month to hiragana instruction, but we believe in a more efficient approach. Instead of rote memorization through repetitive writing, we recommend using mnemonic techniques and targeted worksheets to accelerate your learning.
Our recommended guide employs mnemonics and structured exercises designed to help you read hiragana in a significantly shorter timeframe – potentially even within a day.
Do it: Learn How to Read Hiragana
It’s important to note that our initial focus is on reading hiragana, not necessarily handwriting. While handwriting is a valuable skill to develop eventually, prioritizing reading at this stage allows for faster initial progress with minimal immediate payoff from handwriting practice. In today’s digital age, typing is the dominant form of written communication, accounting for over 99% of modern writing. Therefore, we will focus on learning to type in hiragana (and later katakana and kanji) instead of extensive handwriting practice initially.
This approach, combined with mnemonic techniques and focused worksheets, enables you to learn to read hiragana in a matter of days rather than weeks. Remember, you are learning at your own pace, not confined by the speed of a classroom.
To move forward, ensure you can read all hiragana characters, including contractions, without relying on cheat sheets. Even if your reading is slow initially, accuracy is key. Your reading speed will naturally improve with practice as you progress.
Note: It’s highly recommended to read “Basic Japanese Pronunciation, Part 1” (detailed below) before you begin learning hiragana. This will provide crucial context for understanding the sounds associated with each character.
1.4. Basic Japanese Pronunciation
Estimated Time: Ongoing
Accurate pronunciation starts with hiragana. While hiragana alone won’t encompass all nuances of Japanese phonetics, it provides the essential foundation for understanding how Japanese words are pronounced and for developing a natural-sounding accent. Mastering hiragana pronunciation will get you approximately 80% of the way to clear and comprehensible Japanese speech.
For the remaining 20%, we’ve created a comprehensive guide covering the fundamentals of Japanese pronunciation. Before you begin learning hiragana, read up to the “Japanese Sounds and Your Mouth” section in this guide.
Once you’ve become comfortable reading hiragana, revisit the pronunciation guide and delve into the “Important Differences” section. This section highlights sounds that don’t exist in English, giving you a crucial head start in overcoming pronunciation challenges. Ensure you can pronounce all hiragana characters accurately before moving forward.
Investing time in pronunciation at the outset is highly beneficial. Don’t neglect it simply because it feels challenging. Establishing a strong foundation in pronunciation early on will be invaluable as you encounter more complex aspects of the language. It will enable you to better discern subtle sound differences and exceptions that are crucial for natural-sounding Japanese.
Now, return to learning hiragana. Aim to read and recall all characters before proceeding to the next essential step.
1.5. Typing in Hiragana: Digital Literacy
Estimated Time: 1-2 days (or less)
Prerequisite: Able to read hiragana
Now that you can read and pronounce hiragana (remember, slow but accurate is perfectly acceptable!), it’s time to learn how to type it on your computer or smartphone. In today’s digital world, typing proficiency is as essential as handwriting once was.
The first step is installing a Japanese keyboard. Fortunately, this doesn’t require purchasing any specialized hardware. Input Method Editors (IMEs) are software programs that allow you to type in different languages. You can easily add a Japanese IME to virtually any computer, phone, or operating system. Follow the instructions in our guide to install a Japanese keyboard on your devices:
Read: How to Install a Japanese Keyboard
Once installed, it’s time to learn the mechanics of typing. Refer to our typing guide and focus specifically on the hiragana section, as that’s the script you’re currently familiar with:
Read: How to Type in Japanese
If you can already read hiragana, typing it is surprisingly intuitive. Once you feel confident typing in hiragana, including contractions, the small tsu, and dakuten, move on to the next section. It’s time to address the element that often looms large in the minds of Japanese learners: kanji.
1.6. Unpacking Kanji: Not as Scary as You Think
Estimated Time: n/a
Our approach to how to learn japanese language involves introducing kanji characters early in your learning journey. As soon as you can read and type hiragana, it’s time to start tackling kanji. This might seem counterintuitive, but there are compelling reasons for this strategy:
- Kanji is Fundamental: Kanji is often cited as the most challenging aspect of learning Japanese. However, delaying kanji learning is detrimental. Kanji is pervasive in almost all written Japanese materials, making it indispensable. Ignoring kanji significantly hinders your reading comprehension and overall learning experience.
- Efficient Grammar Learning: Beginner textbooks often require learners to spend considerable time looking up unfamiliar kanji and vocabulary. This detracts from grammar study and slows down progress. Learning some kanji and related vocabulary upfront streamlines grammar acquisition, making it faster and less frustrating. Think of it as a strategic investment: a small time investment now yields significant time savings later.
- Vocabulary and Communication: Kanji directly leads to vocabulary acquisition, and vocabulary is the building block of communication. Grammar acts as the “glue” that binds vocabulary together. Without sufficient vocabulary, grammar becomes abstract and difficult to grasp. Kanji provides the vocabulary foundation necessary for effective grammar learning.
- Effective Learning Methods: Like hiragana, we advocate for a learning method that surpasses traditional rote memorization for kanji. This approach makes kanji learning significantly more effective and even, dare we say, enjoyable!
This kanji-vocabulary-first methodology accelerates your ability to use Japanese. While it might feel slower initially, it will propel you ahead of learners using traditional methods. Furthermore, it facilitates smoother navigation through the “intermediate wall,” reducing the likelihood of burnout and abandonment.
To begin your kanji journey, it’s crucial to understand what kanji is and how it functions within the Japanese language. Our guide on kanji readings will provide the necessary foundational knowledge:
Read: On’yomi vs. Kun’yomi: What’s the Difference?
Once you grasp how Japanese kanji readings operate, you’ll be well-prepared to start learning actual kanji characters.
Section 2: Building Momentum – From Beginner to Confident Learner
2.1. Beginning Kanji & Stockpiling Vocabulary
Estimated Time: 1-3 months
Important Note: You should begin learning katakana (the next section) concurrently with this step. “Beginning Kanji & Stockpiling Kanji Knowledge” is a phase that will typically take 1-3 months to complete. In fact, you can complete all steps up to “The Beginner of Japanese” while you dedicate time to this kanji learning phase.
Now, let’s define what “learning kanji” entails in practical terms. To ensure clarity, we’ll outline specific learning objectives:
- Kanji Meaning and Readings: “Learning kanji” means mastering the most important English meaning(s) and the most frequently used Japanese reading(s) for each character. As you learned in our guide on on’yomi and kun’yomi, kanji can have multiple readings. Furthermore, English meanings are translations and may not perfectly capture the nuances of the Japanese meaning. Therefore, we’ll focus on learning the most crucial meanings and readings – those encountered in 80-90% of contexts – initially. Additional meanings and readings will be acquired gradually through vocabulary learning and continued practice.
- Vocabulary Acquisition: As you learn kanji, you will also learn vocabulary words that utilize those kanji. This dual approach reinforces kanji concepts and introduces you to additional kanji readings within context. Importantly, this vocabulary acquisition will provide the building blocks for grammar learning in later stages.
- Learning Goal: By the end of this phase, aim to learn approximately 2,000 of the most essential kanji and 6,000-7,000 vocabulary words associated with them. This foundational knowledge will equip you to read a vast range of Japanese materials, or at least possess the tools to effectively decipher unfamiliar content.
Your weekly goal should be to learn 20-30 new kanji and around 100 vocabulary words that exclusively use the kanji you’ve learned so far. If this seems like a substantial workload, don’t be discouraged. The Radicals Mnemonic Method is a powerful memorization technique that can significantly accelerate your kanji learning. We highly recommend familiarizing yourself with this method. As a bonus, you’ll gain valuable insights into the structural components of kanji.
Read: Learn kanji with the radicals mnemonic method
This guide will teach you how to prioritize the most important kanji meanings and readings, how to leverage radicals and mnemonics, and how to establish an effective study routine. You can implement these techniques to create your own free weekly study plan with dedicated effort. Alternatively, for a comprehensive and structured approach, consider using WaniKani, a highly-regarded kanji learning program that incorporates these principles.
We will reference WaniKani throughout this guide, but creating your own learning materials and schedule is entirely feasible. The key is to maintain a consistent pace to ensure steady progress. Conversely, some learners might need to pace themselves to avoid burnout.
Once you begin learning vocabulary in WaniKani or your chosen system, revisit the Basic Japanese Pronunciation Guide and read from the “Pronouncing Vocabulary section” to the end. This section covers crucial pronunciation aspects such as long and short vowel sounds, double consonants, and dropped sounds – common stumbling blocks for beginners. You will also be introduced to pitch accent. While mastering pitch accent might be challenging at this stage, simply being aware of its existence and function in Japanese will give you a significant advantage.
Read: Basic Japanese Pronunciation Guide
Now, it’s time to take action. Start your kanji learning journey immediately. Consistent effort is key. Beginning is often the most challenging step – don’t just plan, do!
2.2. Katakana Conquest: The Second Script
Estimated Time: 2 days to 2 weeks
Prerequisite: Able to read hiragana
Learning katakana is a similar process to learning hiragana, with a few unique twists. We offer another mnemonic-based guide to assist you, and with dedicated effort, you can expect to read katakana within a few days.
Aim to reach a point where you can read all katakana characters by the time you start encountering vocabulary in WaniKani (or when you begin vocabulary study in your self-designed kanji learning method). While katakana words may not be as prevalent initially, they appear frequently enough to warrant early learning. Learning katakana also provides a productive way to utilize study time while the number of new kanji you’re learning is still relatively low.
Do it: Learn to Read Katakana
Note: Learners often find katakana slightly more challenging than hiragana. This is partly because katakana appears less frequently than hiragana and kanji, especially in the early stages. Katakana words will become more common as you progress, but for now, simply achieving reading proficiency is sufficient. You’ll have ample opportunities to improve your katakana reading speed and fluency later. Hiragana and kanji are more immediately useful, so prioritize your time and energy accordingly.
Once you can read each katakana character, albeit slowly, proceed to the next section on typing katakana.
2.3. Typing Katakana & Kanji: Expanding Digital Skills
Estimated Time: 1-2 hours
Prerequisites: Able to type hiragana, able to read katakana
Katakana shares many similarities with hiragana, making the transition to typing katakana relatively straightforward. While there are some differences to learn, your hiragana typing knowledge will be directly transferable, allowing for rapid progress. Jump to the katakana section of our typing guide and begin learning:
Read: How to Type Katakana
Note: Continue your kanji learning efforts diligently! If you’re using WaniKani, keep up with your reviews as they become available. Establishing this habit is crucial. WaniKani employs a spaced repetition system, which necessitates intervals between reviews, gradually lengthening over time based on your recall performance. Adhering to your review schedule will help you navigate the initial “slow” phase within a week or two. This initial period is a small fraction of your overall Japanese learning journey, so exercise patience. The waiting periods are critical for reinforcing long-term memory retention.
2.4. Typing Kanji: Connecting Readings to Characters
Estimated Time: 1-2 hours
Prerequisite: Able to read 20-30 kanji
Before starting this step, ensure you can read at least a small set of kanji – 20 to 30 characters is a good starting point. If you’re using WaniKani, this stage coincides with unlocking vocabulary or reaching level 2.
Typing kanji is slightly more complex than typing hiragana or katakana, but it follows similar principles. Learn how to type kanji using the kanji section of our comprehensive typing guide, and then read through to the end for additional useful tips and tricks, including punctuation and symbols.
Read: How to type kanji
Congratulations! You now possess the ability to type everything in Japanese, including [kaomoji](
